ANTIQUE – The province of Antique logged 176 cases of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) from Jan. 1 to 28 this year, according to the Antique Provincial Health Office.
HFMD is characterized by painful sores in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet.
Commonly caused by the coxsackievirus, this contagious infection occurs mostly in children.
“Ang may pinakaduro ang Tobias Fornier, we have 122 cases,” said Health Promotion Designate Nurse Janus Jereza during the APHO Hour: Programa sa Ikaayong Lawas that airs through the Antique Provincial Health Office Facebook Page.
Tobias Fornier was followed by Hamtic with 17 cases, Barbaza with 12, San Jose de Buenavista with 10, Anini-y with seven, Valderrama with four, and San Remigio with four.
No HMFD cases were recorded in Patnongon, Bugasong, Tibiao, Pandan, Caluya, Libertad, Culasi, Sibalom, Belison, Laua-an, and Sebaste towns.
Jereza said they monitored a gradual increase in the number of HMFD cases starting in December 2022.
Because of this, Jereza encouraged most especially children to take precautionary measures and practice proper hygiene, including frequent hand washing or sanitation of commonly touched areas, to reduce the risk of contracting the disease.
HFMD may cause all of the following signs and symptoms or just some of them:
* fever
* sore throat
* feeling unwell
* painful, red, blister-like lesions on the tongue, gums, and inside of the cheeks
* a red rash, without itching but sometimes with blistering, on the palms, soles, and sometimes the buttocks
* irritability in infants and toddlers
* loss of appetite./PN
